Many different harvesting machines have been developed in the past. The conventional machines are not suitable for harvesting certain crops such as hemp, cereals and other crops and they sometimes require multiple harvesting that is time consuming and expensive to do. For example, traditional methods are still used in many countries. Pre-retting and drying take place in the field and the processing of fibers takes place in industrial plants. It is often only the long fibers that are sought after for the weaving of textiles. The shives/hurds are retted away in full and only the fibers are taken care of. This is a very labor-intensive method.
There is also a tradition of producing paper of various qualities for different applications. Normally, the seeds are first harvested with the aid of a traditional combine harvester with an elevated cutting table. After that the field is gone over once again using a chaff cutter which cuts of the remaining stalk and lay them parallel in rows in the field for pre-retting and drying. This method provides a relatively good seed yield but does not recover the stalk material at the same time. Methods have also been developed for tearing off the stalk. These methods result in great seed losses and also parts of the stalks are lost.
There is a need to an effective harvesting method that recovers more of the harvest while also being efficient. There is a need for a method that enables the harvesting of the crop while limiting waste and also enables the cutting of the stalk sections without having to go over the field a second time.
Also, for the purpose of spreading harvested material evenly, the predominant method is to mechanically spread the material using centrifugal power. The width of harvesting equipment has increased considerably during recent years, and hence the material has a longer way to go sidewise in order to cover the area properly. The increased length makes this operation more sensitive to wind. The uneven spread makes the soil improvement less efficient.